Skein-thread holder



(No ModeL). Y'

l W. G.,SCHROEDBR.

SKBIN THREAD HOLDER.

No. 546,251. l Paizellind Sept. '10, 1895.

WITNESSES: Z2/vzw Tof?.-

ANDREW RGRMMM.PHOTO-WQWASHXNGYGMDG UNrrnn Strafrns afinar einen;

VILLIAMC. SOHROEDER, OF LA PORTE, INDIANA.

SKElN-TH READ HOLDER.

SPECFICATION' forming part of Letters PatentNo. 546,251, dated September 10, 1895*.

` Application filed June 22, 1894. Serial No. 515,384. (No model.)

To @Zi wiz/0ml it may concern,.-

Beit known that l, WILLIAM C. Sonnononn, a citizen of the United States, residing in La Porte, in the county of La Porte and State of Indiana, have invented a new and usefullmprovement in Skein-Thread Holders, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to devices by which thread Whichis usually sold and used inthe form of skeins can be kept in such form While in the merchants stock and While being used Without becoming either tangled or soiled, and without any tendency upon the part of one length of thread when drawn from the skein to disturb or disarrangc the lengths remainlng.

The invention has been designed more especially for use with lwhat are generally known as embroidery silks, which easily become tangled, and a large percentage of which has heretofore been lost because of the lack Aof any convenient means for 4preventing the tangling and soiling. l estimate that the merchant in handling these by the method heretofore practiced loses as much as ten per cent. of his. stock from soiling and tangling, and that the needlewoman who uses the thread in y embroidering loses from seventy to eighty per cent. from the same causes. lVhile the invention has been devised with special reference to its use in caring for silk threads, it is obviously adapted to be used with any kind of thread, yarn, or cord which is kept or used in the skein form.

The invention consists in a core made of paper or like material, adapted to fit approximately the interior of the skein, and also adapted to keep the same in its extended condition with the strands on one side of the skein out of contact with those upon the other side, in combination with a Wrapper adapted to be folded along longitudinal lines around tho outside of the skein, so as to incluse the latter at its sides and edges, as more particularly set forth below. This core is preferably made of paper, as distinguished from card or other board, because the paper is very ilexible and bends freely Without being alected in any way thereby, While card and other boards break very easily when bent and their surfaces become roughened at the lines Where the breaks occur. The roughness thus caused is objectionable because of the liability ex 'istingg especially in the oase of silks, of its catching and injuring the thread. The stiff material may, however, be used in the core with some of the features of my invention. After the skein has been placed upon this core, further particulars regarding the construction of which will be given later on, I inclose or Wrap it in an envelope of paper, forming a long, slender, and nearly dat tubularpackage, exposing only the ends of the thread or one end thereof, and affording a means for marking the package with the pricemark, number, shade, or other particulars de sired. The Wrapper is usually held closed by pasting or by some exterior fastening, and the thread can be kept in it while the merchant holds it in stock and remainin it While being used. In my improved holder the skein is not only kept from becomiugtangled within itself, but it is also kept entirely separate from entanglement with other skeins. The invention affords a convenient means of assorting the skeins as to color, number, die. It also forms a guide in dividing the skein into convenient lengths for use, as it permits such division by merely cutting the threads at the exposed end, and when so divided the individual lengths may be drawn out one at a time from within the Wrapper and Without disarranging any of the other lengths or affecting them in any manner..

In drawing the lengths of thread from a skein held in my holder, one-half of such length necessarily passes around the end of the core opposite the-end at which the threads were severed. Silk being very delicate and easily caught by any roughness upon the core, I prefer that the end around which it is passed in thus drawing it out of the skein should be rounded and smooth, as distinguished from square or sharp or rough, because either a square shoulder or a sharp thin edge or a rough edge would either catch the thread or roughen it as it is drawn around the shoulder or edge, or form a kink in it which Will remain in it after it is drawn out of the holder and which will very likely be the means of forming a knot before the thread is worked up, or the kink may show in the linished embroidery. This end of the core should also be of such .a nature as to prevent the thread from cutting into it when drawn around it. I also prefer that the rounded end possess a limited degree of spring or yielding quality. In other words it is not desirable that it be absolutely unyielding or rigid. The outside Wrapper may be either separate from or attached to the core. I prefer to make them of one integral piece of paper.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure I is a plan or outside View of my holder. Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on the line 2 2 and 3 3, respectively, of Fig. l, both being enlarged from the scale of Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a still more enlarged section, similar to Fig. 2, showing the thread in place in the holder. Fig. 4- shows the core and wrapper made in one piece and unfolded ready to receive the thread. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4., showing the blank from which the holder is formed. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. l,showing a modil'ication.

In the drawings, A represents the core and B I3 B2 the sections of the Wrapper. The end a of the core A is doubled or rolled upon itself, thereby making the core somewhat shorter than the wrapping sections, and said end is reduced to a rounded and thickened condition, as shown plainly at Fig. 2. This thickening and rounding of the end of the core renders it t to allow the threads to be drawn around it when they are pulled, Without any tendency to roughen them. The material is also preferably somewhat yielding and at the same time sufficiently firm to prevent the thread from cutting into it. The core should also preferably correspond in length, approximately, to the interior length of the skein, so that the latter can be readily slipped over it and be kept in an extended condition by it. After this has been done the wrapper sections are bent around the outside ofthe skein, and preferably so as to cover all except one end of it. The wrapper permits the marking of the goods with any particulars which the dealer may need for his guidance in selling or which the user may need for her guidance in Working.

The Wrapper is preferably pasted by gum applied to the outer edge of B2 or otherwise held closed, so that it retains the silk closely covered and protects the same thoroughly whilein the merchants hands and during all the handling to which it is subjected while in his stock. When the user buys a skein of silk in my holder she severs all or a portion of the threads of the skein exposed at the end Vof the holder and thereby divides the skein.

into the lengths desired. These severed lengths may then be drawn one at a time from out the holder and away from the remaining lengths without entanglement with. or any disturbance of the orderly condition of the latter or creating any tendency by them to pull out with the lengths which are withdrawn, so that the holder can be retained in service until the skein is entirely ef:- hausted. The core not only serves to keep the skein distended, but it also keeps the two sides or limbs of the skein separated from each other. 'lhislatterfunction is important, and particularly so at the loop or uncut end of the skein, because if no core were present at that point the loop or doubled portion of the skein would soon be drawn into a snarl.

The core may be separate from the wrapper, if desired, and it may be made of stiff material; but I prefer to make itin one piece with the wrapper and of flexible paper, so tiiat should the holder be bent or doubled after the thread has been placedin it no harm will be done either to it or the thread. Ii" made of stiff material the core would be liable to break if bent and then catch or otherwise injure the thread.

If it is desired to wholly inclose the end. of the thread which passes around the roll a, it may be conveniently done by adding a flap h to the end of section B', and then, after the thread has been wrapped up, bending or pasting said flap down upon the outside of section B2, as shown at Fig. (l.

m, wherever used, indicates the thread.

I claim- I. A thread package, consisting of a folded casing embracing the skein, the said casing being provided with a bearing piece, folded upon itself, the bight of the fold forming a bearing for the skein and a partition between the sides of the skein, the said folded bearing piece being permanently attached to one only of the opposite sides of the casing, substantially as set forth.

2. A thread package, consisting of a folded casing for embracing the skein, one of the folded parts of the casing located between the walls of the casing being further folded, the bearing edge of the fold extending trausversely to the longitudinal direction of the skein and forming a partition between the sides of the skein, substantially as set forth.

VILLIAM C. SCHROEDER.

Witnesses:

ED F. MICHAEL, JOHN E. MARTIN.

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